A little background...
For many years (when I was younger) I carried some of the inexpensive, off the shelf knives for my
Every
Day
Carry (Buck, Gerber, etc.). They were ok and worked just fine, but as I grew older I wanted something better. Some time back, I ended up with a Benchmade AFCK. At the time, it was the best, most expensive knife I had ever owned. As good as it was, it never was "the" knife for me. I eventually ended up with an EDI Genesis. It was a really good knife, but a tad too large for my needs as an EDC. Anyway, I took it to the coast and used it for a week long surf fishing trip and never rinsed it off with fresh water (yeah... stupid... I know). Needless to say, it rusted pretty bad, pretty quick... lesson learned. Unfortunately, the company that made it went out of business and the original EDI Genesis was hard to come by (for a replacement).
After going without an EDC knife for the last couple of years, I decided to do an ass load of of research before getting something else and get something I could be really happy carrying. I'm 99.9% sure I've found it. It's the Spyderco Sage 2. With all of the online research I did on it, I couldn't find one bad review on it.
http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=421I just got this knife today, but I have to say, it is as every bit as smooth as my EDI with it's bronze bushings. The titanium handles feel solid in the hand. The flat ground leaf blade is beautiful. The frame lock (aka the Reeve Integral Lock) is one of the most solid locking mechanisms I've ever seen on a folder. It also has a deep pocket clip that keeps the knife riding low and secure in the pocket. And that wire clip may look weak, but trust me, it'll handle whatever you throw at it.
The only reservation I had in getting this knife is the fact that it's made in Taiwan. That being said, this is one of the best constructed knives I've ever seen. There's absolutely no play in the blade when open. The blade is dead nuts centered in the handle when closed and when locked open, it's extremely tight.
It was $150 on Amazon ($140 after an Amazon coupon the wife had) for this thing (more than I thought I'd ever pay for a knife). But, I have to say, from what little I've played with it, it appears like it's going to be worth every red cent. I can already tell that this is definitely going to be my all time favorite EDC knife. If you're in the market for a new EDC, I'd strongly recommend considering this knife before it disappears from the Syderco lineup. I'm actually thinking about getting a second one.
Anyway, all of that being said, what do you have for your EDC knife?